434 report — 1879. 



are connected with themselves and with Gartok in the extreme north-west by a 

 remarkable road 800 miles long, which follows in a general direction the course of 

 the main river to the junction of the Lhasa river. This road is dotted at intervals 

 by brick-built post-houses for travellers and for the special official messengers who 

 cover the entire distance in an average period of 23 days. The Sanpu is spanned 

 by a few bridges, but these are nearly all unsafe, and the usual method of crossing 

 is by clumsy ferry-boats, which are minutely described by Mr. Bogle, Warren 

 Hastings's envoy. 



The furthest point to which the Sanpu had been traced was Chetang, a village 

 the position of which had been fixed by Pundit Nain Siugh. In 1877 a native 



surveyor, N g, was despatched by General J. T. Walker, Surveyor-General 



of India, to follow and map out the course of the Sanpu eastward of this point, 

 and as far as possible. Crossing to the northern bank of the river, he followed it 

 eastwards for about 30 miles, and then had to diverge to the north-east and back 

 again towards the south-east for a distance of 50 miles, while the river itself 

 wended its way through impenetrable mountains for about 20 miles. Up to Gyatsa- 

 Jong, the point where he struck the Sanpu again, the river flows pretty much as 

 reported by Nain Singh, but beyond that point it proves to flow first due eastward 

 for about 50 miles and then north-east for about 80 miles. It reaches its most 

 northern point near the intersection of the meridian of 94° with the parallel of 30° 

 about 12 miles to the north-east of a place which the explorer calls Chamkar, and 

 which apparently may be identified with D'Anville's Tchamca. After attaining 

 its most northern point, the river turns due south-east, reaching Gya-la-Singdong 

 in 15 miles. From this point the explorer was unable to follow it. Thence, how- 

 ever, he saw that it flowed on for a great distance, passing through a considerable 

 opening in the mountain ranges, to the west of a high peak called Jung-la. 

 Beyond this opening the river was said to pass through a country inhabited by 

 savages into a land ruled by the British. The distance between Gya-la-Singdong 

 and the highest point hitherto fixed on the Dihong would thus be only about 100 

 miles. The height of Gya-la-Singdong was found to be 8000 feet, showing that 

 the river had fallen about 3500 feet in 200 miles, and leaving a descent of 7000 

 feet for the distance of 160 miles to its junction with other Himalayan rivers. 



This exploration gives an interesting explanation of the large bulk of the 

 Subansiri, as within the large bend of the Sanpu room is left for a northern feeder 

 of that river. The recent measurement of the discharges of the Assam rivers 

 by Lieutenant Harman 1 also testify to the probability of the Dihong being the only 

 possible lower course of the Sanpu. 



Corroborative information of this theory is also supplied by the Abbe' Desgodins's 

 researches as communicated to the French Geographical Society, as he had been 

 informed that some days' journey east of Lhasa the river turns southward with a 

 long bend and traversing the Hia-yul district flows into the Lhopa country under 

 the name Dehon. 



The combined information thus afforded appears to argue irresistibly in favour 

 of the identity of the Sanpu and Dihong. 



3. The Dutch Expedition to Central Sumatra. 

 By Professor P. J. Yeth, President of the Dutch Geographical Society. 



Although we possess in Marsden's ' History of Sumatra ' the best and most ex- 

 haustive general work on that island, still it is antiquated, and the knowledge of 

 the country in his time was even less complete than it is now. The war in Achen 

 since 1873 has increased our acquaintance with the northern province, and in 

 Central and Southern Sumatra many explorers have recently been at work, 

 especially on the west coast. But an extensive area from the central mountain 

 range towards the east coast yet remains comparatively unknown, and has been 

 taken in hand by the Dutch Geographical Society, which determined to investigate 

 the Jambi district (about equivalent to the Congo in African exploration). The 



1 See J. Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. xlviii. part 2, 1879. 



